Paul Ryan and Gen X GOP

By Alex Castellanos, CNN Contributor

Updated 12:17 PM ET, Sun August 12, 2012

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left, jokes with Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan Saturday, August 11, after announcing him as his running mate at a campaign event on the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Virginia.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Romney, left, and Ryan wave at supporters in front of the USS Wisconsin.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Romney supporters wait for him to introduce Ryan as his vice presidential running mate.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Romney and Ryan wave to supporters.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Romney supporters sing the U.S. national anthem as they wait for Romney to introduce Ryan as his vice presidential running mate.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Romney and Ryan shake hands as they embark on a four-day, four-state bus tour through Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Ryan speaks after Romney introduces him as his running mate.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Ryan speaks after Romney introduces him as his vice-presidential pick.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Ryan addresses a crowd of supporters in Norfolk, Virginia.

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Romney waves at members of the media as he arrives at the USS Wisconsin to announce Ryan has his running mate.

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Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket12 photos

Romney and Ryan set as Republican ticket – Romney exits his bus at the campaign event.

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Story highlights

Alex Castellanos: Romney showed boldness picking Paul Ryan

Ryan will work with Romney to address U.S. economic woes, Castellanos says

Castellanos: The message is that Washington is not going to grow under their watch

He says Romney took a political risk for a purpose larger than himself -- to fix the country

In picking Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney demonstrated what kind of businessman he has been and what kind of leader he wants to be. He didn't pick a running mate to help him make the political "sale." He picked a vice president to help him fix the nation's business, our broken economy.

Until this moment, Mitt Romney, like President Obama, had been playing small ball. The optimistic entrepreneur with the reputation for bringing disruptive, transformative change to the business world had not been leading, only playing it safe. As a result, he was missing two things from his campaign: He had not shown voters he had the strength to be president nor a vision that would bring change.

Now Romney has demonstrated both. This is a bold, not cautious move. And the choice of Ryan shouts that Washington better get ready for something different: Ryan is not a man of the status quo. He's the living embodiment of what comes next.

By choosing Ryan, Romney reveals he wants to change the politics, not of the last four years, but of the last 12. The message here is that Washington is not going to grow under the watch of these two men. Washington's economy is not going to get fatter in a Romney-Ryan administration, as it has under our last two presidents.

Alex Castellanos

The choice of Ryan also tells us how Mitt Romney plans to grow the economy: Not top down, politically and artificially from Washington. That's the old way.

Ryan, the first generation-X candidate on any presidential ticket, wants to turn that outdated process upside down. He would see the American people grow the economy bottom-up, naturally and organically. He sees the American economy working a lot more like new economy leaders eBay and Google: thin at the top, where the Washington politicians mooch, and thick at the bottom, where working people are.

Ryan may be the first of a new generation of GOPers who can compete and win, not only when battling old liberals, but "New Democrats." On this Saturday morning in Virginia, with Romney as a father, the "New Republican" may have been born.

The choice comes with a lot of risk. The first month will look great and then the Democratic attacks will begin taking their toll. Grandma better strap on her seatbelt because her wheelchair is headed for the cliff again.

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Where can Ryan help Romney?

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Wait -- who's running for what again?

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Wait -- who's running for what again?01:06

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A lot of Republicans in swing House and Senate races will soon open their front doors only to see a big missile headed their way with "RYAN" stenciled on the side. These Republicans are going to have to fight harder now to defend the tough choices Ryan has already presented.

Sometimes, however, the smartest political thing to do is not the smartest political thing. It is, simply, the right thing for the country. A lot of Republicans and swing voters, as surprised by the Ryan choice as I was, will be energized that Mitt Romney manned-up, got serious, took a political risk for a purpose higher than himself, and chose a VP, not to help him win an election, but to renew our troubled country.

For that reason Ryan may also be brilliant politics. He is a serious, grown up choice when this country, in crisis, needs one.

Mitt Romney, a vacillating, elite manager of the establishment's status quo? No more. Barack Obama is now running against a bold leader with a populist agenda to bring change to Washington, shrink our debt and grow our economy.

RR for president? Something about that sounds right.

Watch CNN tonight at 7 and 10 ET for an in-depth look at Paul Ryan and the next steps for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Mitt Romney took a step many political experts did not think he would -- choosing a controversial and bold running mate and making one of the most important announcements of his campaign at a time many did not expect.